


Take My Hand

by Tari_Sue



Series: Camelot Land [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:48:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tari_Sue/pseuds/Tari_Sue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur has been chasing this sorcerer for two years now, ever since his father died</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take My Hand

He heard the cracking before he felt the ground give way beneath him. There was nothing he could do, he tried to grab at the trees, but they wouldn’t take his weight. Desperately he sought purchase at the edge of the chasm that had opened up below his feet.

How far had he strayed from the rest of his men? Would anyone reach him in time?

He cursed himself for his stupidity. That damned sorcerer had separated him from his company and led him straight into a trap. Arthur should have known the man was not to be trusted, he’d been chasing him for too long now.

The loose packed earth above him started to give way and he desperately sought another handhold.

“Arthur, take my hand.” A shadow loomed over him accompanied by a voice he had not heard in a long time.

“Fuck off, Merlin. I don’t need help from a traitor like you.”

“Clearly you do, Arthur. Take my hand.”

“Why? So you can kill me?”

“If I wanted you dead I’d leave you hanging there! Stop being a prick and take my hand.”

“And what will you do to me then?”

“We can argue about that once you are back up here.”

The packed earth under Arthur’s right foot crumbled, making him slide downwards a few inches.

“For fuck’s sake, Arthur!”

A strange warm feeling surrounded him, like he was being held in place and then slowly raised.

“Stop it!” he growled out. “Stop using your damned magic on me! I’d rather fall to my death.” The warm feeling abruptly vanished.

“What do you expect? You won’t take my hand and I can’t let you die.”

“What difference does it make to you?”

“I’m serious, Arthur, take my hand or I’ll haul your sorry arse up here by magic.”

“Fine,” he growled, grasping Merlin’s proffered hand. With his enemy’s help Arthur heaved himself up to the top.

The second he hit solid ground, Arthur rose to a fighting stance, although he wasn’t sure what use his sword would be against witchcraft.

“What do you plan to do with me now?”

“Nothing, Arthur.” A familiar scowl skitted across Merlin’s face. “I didn’t save you for any nefarious purpose.”

“So why did you?” Arthur did not relax his guard one bit, he’d never trust this boy again. No, man, he’d never trust this man again. The two years spent on the run had aged Merlin; his face fitted his cheekbones now.

“Because I’m your friend, Arthur. I always was, remember?” Merlin looked so earnest when he said that. Arthur almost wanted to believe him. No, Merlin betrayed him in the worst possible way.

“You’re no friend of mine, sorcerer. You were a servant, a sometime bed-warmer, a traitor, a liar.” Arthur tried to pour all of his hatred and contempt into the sneer on his face.

“I was and always will be your friend,” Merlin said matter-of-factly. “I have never and will never betray you.”

“You killed my father!” Arthur bellowed, unable to take this complacency any longer.

“I did not.” The lie was said in such a simple straight-forward manner. As thought Merlin thought he could make it the truth just by uttering it.

“Don’t lie to me!” Arthur dropped his voice low this time, trick he’d learnt from Uther himself. “Everything you ever said was a lie, why persist in this one when I saw you with my own eyes!”

“I tried to save his life.” Merlin opened his hands in an unconscious ‘trust me’ gesture’, but Arthur knew the havoc those hands could wreak and took an involuntary step back. “Morgana killed him, you know that.” Merlin had tried this lie before, but Morgana had not been there, Merlin had.

“If that were true, why did you run? You killed him. You killed him with magic.”

“I ran because I don’t much fancy burning to death!” Merlin finally raised his voice in frustration. “Sorry, to disappoint you, but it’s not my idea of fun.”

“I trusted you, Merlin. I trusted you with everything, my life, my father’s life, my heart…” Arthur stopped. He had not meant to say that.

“I loved you too, Arthur, I always have,” Merlin said, sadly. “I tried to save him for you, despite all he had done. I tried to save him because he was your father and you loved him. I outed myself for you, Arthur, and for nothing.”

“You hated him, you all hated him!” Arthur clung to his hatred, it was all that had fuelled him since Merlin left. He barely noticed that he had lowered his sword.

“Can you blame us?” Merlin sounded tired now. He moved backwards and sat on a fallen tree trunk. “He tried to wipe us out! I was born with magic, I can’t help it any more than I can help having black hair or any more than you can help being a prat, and yet he thought that alone was reason for me and my kind to die a horrible death. Of course we all wanted him dead, he killed our loved ones and it was him or us.”

Arthur knew this, he knew this long before Morgana left. His father had been wrong, he could only ever admit that to himself and the man standing before him.

“I can’t do this, Merlin.” Arthur surprised himself with the quiet admission. “I can’t do all of this alone, I can’t do this without you. I need you.”

“You have me, Arthur, you always did.”

Arthur knew this to be true. Everywhere he went Merlin never seemed far away. Arthur’s enemies still mysteriously fell over their own feet in a way he had not noticed before but now every time it happened it infuriated him.

“I need you by my side. With me.”

“That would mean bringing magic back to Camelot, Arthur. It’s still who I am, I can’t change that and I can no longer hide it.”

“I’ll do it, I promise, come back to Camelot with me.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” It stung, but Arthur knew he deserved it.

“Just take my hand, Merlin.”


End file.
